The Reckless Way of Love
Notes on Following Jesus
Dorothy Day
Edited by Carolyn Kurtz
PLOUGH PUBLISHING HOUSE
Published by Plough Publishing House
Walden, New York
Robertsbridge, England
Elsmore, Australia
Copyright © 2017 Dorothy Day
All rights reserved.
PRINT ISBN: 978-0-87486-792-3
EPUB ISBN: 978-0-87486-793-0
MOBI ISBN: 978-0-87486-794-7
PDF ISBN: 978-0-87486-795-4
Contents
Introduction by D. L. Mayfield
15. Seeing Christ in All Who Come
16. Living Together, Working Together
17. A Place Where Love Can Grow
To the Reader
DOROTHY DAY’S passion for peace and social justice and her dedication to serving the poor are legendary, and her fame continues to grow. Despite her own protests, admirers have petitioned the Vatican to make her a saint. She was one of four people Pope Francis named as truly great Americans. Yet combing through Dorothy’s books and articles and her private letters and journals, one discovers an underappreciated dimension of her life. Where did a conflicted young woman find the inner strength to answer the clear call she heard from God? And how did she go on to live such an active, selfless life for so many decades without losing heart or burning out? Unlike other collections, this little volume brings together Dorothy’s thoughts on the life of discipleship, the reckless way of love to which Jesus calls his followers. Dorothy’s dogged struggle to hold on to faith, her love for those hardest to love, and her rootedness in prayer can guide and encourage each of us in our own attempts to follow more faithfully in the way of Jesus.
The story of Dorothy Day’s life has been told well elsewhere, so the briefest biographical sketch here will suffice. There’s certainly no better place to start than her own books, The Long Loneliness and Loaves and Fishes.
Born in Brooklyn in 1897, Dorothy’s early years were marked by dramatic twists and turns. There was journalism school, and then a taste of the bohemian Twenties, first in New York City, then Italy, then Hollywood, and finally Staten Island. These were whirlwind years, and left her reeling from a broken marriage, an abortion, and a series of unhappy relationships.
But there was also an unforgettable night in a Greenwich Village bar where her friend, the playwright Eugene O’Neill, recited “The Hound of Heaven” for her – a poem whose obscure but deep message, she later said, eventually brought about her conversion.
In 1926 Dorothy had a baby daughter, Tamar – an event
